10 things about Super Bowl 2013: Ray Lewis' deer antler spray, Beyonce's halftime show and more

By Juanita Ng, Vancouver SunFebruary 1, 2013

Did Ray Lewis use deer antler spray to recover from an injury? Will Beyonce sing the halftime show live, or will she lip sync it? How much will the TV commercials cost this year? And what about those head coaching Harbaugh brothers? Keep clicking to see 10 things you should know about Super Bowl 2013.
(In this photo: Beyonce appears in a new promo shot for the Super Bowl half-time show.)

Photograph by: Iam.beyonce.com, Iam.beyonce.com

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With just a few days to go until Super Bowl Sunday, the buzz surrounding the game has shifted into overdrive.

Did Ray Lewis use deer antler spray to recover from an injury? Will Beyonce sing the halftime show live, or will she lip sync it? How much will the TV commercials cost this year? And what about those head coaching Harbaugh brothers?

Click here to see 10 things about Super Bowl 2013: Ray Lewis' deer antler spray, Beyonce's halftime show and more.

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Did Ray Lewis use deer antler spray to recover from an injury? Will Beyonce sing the halftime show live, or will she lip sync it? How much will the TV commercials cost this year? And what about those head coaching Harbaugh brothers? Keep clicking to see 10 things you should know about Super Bowl 2013.
(In this photo: Beyonce appears in a new promo shot for the Super Bowl half-time show.)

Photograph by: Iam.beyonce.com, Iam.beyonce.com

<b>The teams and the stats</b><br>
Super Bowl XLVII (that’s 47, for those who don’t do Roman numerals) will take place Sunday Feb. 3 between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens, who have previously won Super Bowl XXXV, finished their 2012 regular season with a 10-6 record. Ray Lewis - the MVP from the Super Bowl XXXV game - will return for the 2013 matchup, his last before retiring. The 49ers, who are seeking their sixth Super Bowl win, finished their regular season at 11-4-1.

The game is expected to be a close one, with bookies favouring the 49ers by 3.5 points.
<p>(In this photo: Members of the San Francisco 49ers answers questions from the media during Super Bowl XLVII Media Day ahead of the National Football League’s Super Bowl XLVII on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans.)

<b>Ray Lewis: The “deer antler spray” controversy</b><br>
The Ravens linebacker has long been a figure of controversy because of the obstruction of justice charges he managed to avoid in a 2000 double murder in Atlanta. The latest story now causing a buzz is a Sports Illustrated report that Lewis used a spray containing a banned extract from deer antlers to help recover from torn triceps. “Every test I’ve ever took in the NFL, there’s never been a question if I’ve ever even thought about using anything,” a huffy Lewis told reporters. Later, when asked outright if he had ever used the spray, Lewis said, “No, never. Never.”
<p> (In this photo, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis speaks at an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans.)

<b>The Super Bowl game on TV and online</b><br>
The game will be broadcast on CTV and on CBS, with Jim Nantz calling the play-by-play and Phil Simms providing the colour commentary. For the second consecutive year the game will be live-streamed, on CBSSports.com. The halftime show will be live-streamed for the first time in history. The Super Bowl game starts at 3:30 p.m. PST although CBS will have a staggering seven hours of pregame programming beginning at 8 a.m. PST. The first three hours of pregame programming will include a three-hour look at New Orleans; the meatiest part of the pregame will start at 11 a.m., on CBS’s Super Bowl Today show.

<b>Ticket prices</b><br>
The game will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans for the 10th time. It is the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans since the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Super Bowl game has long been sold out although there are plenty of resale tickets available if you can afford them. According to sbnation.com, as of Jan. 30 the cheapest ticket to Super Bowl 2013 was an endzone seat waaaaay up in the nosebleeds – and it was going for $1,580. The most expensive ticket was being sold for $5,916, but you can expect that price to jump as we get closer to Super Bowl Sunday.

<b>TV commercial prices</b><br>
CBS will get a record average of $3.8 million per 30-second commercial. Last year’s Super Bowl was watched by some 111 million people, the most for any TV program in history, and the commercials are a big part of the buzz. For instance, weeks in advance of the game, Mercedes-Benz had already drawn attention for its teaser of model Kate Upton in a slow-motion car-washing commercial.

<b>Pre-game entertainment</b><br>
Multi-platinum bands OneRepublic and Matchbox Twenty (frontman Rob Thomas is shown here) will be singing at the NFL Tailgate Party, and parts of their performances will be aired live on CBS’s Super Bowl Today show. Justin Timberlake will perform during the invitation-only DIRECTV Super Saturday Night concert on Feb. 2 in New Orleans. It will be Timberlake’s first concert in four years.

<b>Halftime show</b><br>
Beyonce, who performed the U.S. national anthem at the 2004 Super Bowl, will headline the 2013 halftime show. After the speculation that Beyonce lip synced the national anthem at the U.S. presidential inauguration, she’s reported to be itching to sing the halftime show live and knock it out of the park. Regular season NFL games have a halftime of just 12 minutes, but the Super Bowl halftime will last about 30 minutes. Click through to the end of this photo gallery to see photos of Beyonce in rehearsal for her Super Bowl performance.

<p>(In this photo: Beyonce appears in a new promo shot for the Super Bowl half-time show.)

Rumours have swirled since the headlining announcement that Beyonce’s defunct group Destiny’s Child will reunite during the halftime show. According to US Weekly, an “insider” has confirmed to the magazine that Beyonce will sing her hit Crazy in Love to kick off the show. Midway through, she’ll be joined by her Destiny’s Child partners Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams to sing a medley of their hits, starting with Bills, Bills, Bills and ending with a new song, Nuclear.

<b>The Garth Brooks controversy</b><br>
Have you ever wondered why the NFL even has a prerecording of the national anthem to begin with? Blame Garth Brooks, who sang the anthem in 1993 at Super Bowl XXVII. Miffed because NBC had refused to premiere his new music video for We Shall Be Free during the pregame, Brooks walked out of the stadium 45 minutes before kickoff. TV producers had seen Jon Bon Jovi in the stands at the game and were prepared to call on him to sing the anthem if necessary, but at the last minute NBC acquiesced and agreed to air a clip of Brooks’ video during the Super Bowl telecast. Sulk over, Brooks came back to the stadium and sang the anthem – but since then, the NFL has required that all performers supply a backup track in advance of the show.

<b>The historical “HarBowl”</b><br>
For the first time in Super Bowl history, the opposing head coaches will be brothers: Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and San Francisco’s Jim Harbaugh. The siblings previously met in a 2011 Thanksgiving game; John Harbaugh’s Ravens won that game 16-6. Their father Jack, a former college football head coach, and mother Jackie met the media recently and told reporters they were excited but staying neutral. Click on the next photo to see how they are handling the situation.
<p>(In this combination of photos, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (right) and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh speak during their team’s media day for the National Football League’s Super Bowl XLVII on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans.)

<b>The historical “HarBowl”</b><br>
Jackie, who has said she will wear an outfit with neutral colours, said: “I know one is going to win and one is going to lose, but I would really like to end in a tie. Can the NFL do that?"
<br>John, meanwhile, harkened back to the 2011 Thanksgiving game for a moment: He said he visited each locker room after that game and saw the smile on John's face, then headed over to Jim’s locker room. "It was quiet and sombre, and finally I saw Jim, all by himself, no one around him," Jack said. “He still had his coaching thing on, and his hands on his head, and we realized that is where we were needed. And we know we are going to experience that next week.”
<p>(In this photo: Jackie and Jack Harbaugh, parents of San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh at the NFL's Media Day.)

Beyonce and her dancers prepare for the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show.

Beyonce and her band rehearse for the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show.

Beyonce in rehearsal ahead of Super Bowl XLVII in New Orelans.

Beyonce prepares for the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show.

A billboard outside the New Orleans Arena ahead of Super Bowl XLVII.

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Scoreboard

5/21/2013 7:10:31 AM

Final	1	2	3	ot	score

Detroit	0	2	1	-	3
Chicago	0	0	1	-	1

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10 things about Super Bowl 2013: Ray Lewis' deer antler spray, Beyonce's halftime show and more

Photograph by: Iam.beyonce.com, Iam.beyonce.com

More on This Story

Photograph by: Iam.beyonce.com, Iam.beyonce.com

Scoreboard